Let Me Go
by caress of shadows
Summary: Ariadne loves Cobb, and even though he should, he cannot let her go. a little angsty.


**An**: This is my first Inception fan fiction and is just a quick one shot. I loved the movie and decided I should write a Cobb and Ariadne fic as there seems to be a lack of this fandom. Most seem to like Ariadne and Arthur, but they seem too easy to me. I love the dynamic of Cobb and Ariadne. Plus I personally felt that Leo and Ellen have great chemistry

This is unbeta'd so please excuse any errors. I did my best to proof, but after looking at the same words for so long, something may have gotten past me.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own them.

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><p><strong>Let Me Go<strong>

"Please. You have to let me go." She whimpered.

"I can't." He breathed against her ear.

"You don't love me."

"I'm sorry."

"Please Dom." She begged. But would she really allow him to let her go? The answer was clear as she gripped his broad shoulders. His kisses sending fire through her veins, she wrapped her legs wantonly around his hips. No, she wasn't strong enough…yet.

Ariadne slipped from Cobb's bed hours later. Her body ached deliciously, as she quietly collected her strewn clothing to redress. She silently closed the hotel door behind her. Vowing that this was the last time she would come to him. Her love for the extractor was so deep; she was frightened it would consume her entirely. She didn't have a problem with that, except for the fact that Dominic Cobb did not love her back.

Too young. Too old. Too different. She'd heard it all from him. Too bad she didn't care about any of that. Too bad he did

She was exhausted when she made it to her own room, and she gratefully collapsed on her bed. She didn't sleep. Ariadne spent the next two hours with Cobb invading her thoughts as sunlight began to seep through the curtains. She should leave, she could leave. She would finish the London job and be gone. She was lying.

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><p>The following morning she was at the warehouse before any of the others, which was not unusual. Lack of sleep had forced her to indulge in too many cups of coffee. She had learned to take it black because that was the way Cobb drank his coffee, and it worked the best, no sugar or cream to block the pick me up effect of the caffeine.<p>

She tried to work. She really did_. _Her mind was just too full and she was somewhere else screamed when Eames came up behind her and touched her shoulder to get her attention.

"Jesus, Ariadne. Just letting you know we are all here, love." Eames explained, a little disconcerted by her outburst.

"Sorry." She shrugged sheepishly.

Arthur and Cobb gave the final rundown of their assignment and Ariadne did her best to pay attention. She began to fidget rather loudly. She silently screamed at herself to stop before anyone noticed that the usually calm architect was off her rocker.

"Ari, please stop fidgeting." Cobb commanded. He gave her a quick glance as if to say, _"What's wrong? You never act like this."_

Ariadne just bowed her head and did her best to stay still.

She volunteered to grab food for the team. She had to get away from Cobb, before his presence suffocated her. She should get on a plan right now and never look back. She should save her heart while there was still time.

"_Stop lying to yourself Ariadne, it's a horrible habit. There is no time left. Your heart is already gone." _She silently scolded herself.

She made her way back to the warehouse with huge deli sandwiches and chips for all of the men. Hoping no one noticed she was gone almost double the time it normally took.

"What took you so long?" Arthur asked. "You are usually back in record time."

"Just thinking." She explained with a small smile. She felt Cobb's questioning gaze on her and she turned around and made her way to her workstation. She was looking at nothing, but she hoped it appeared that she was working. Cobb followed her anyways.

"We need to talk." He said softly.

"We can later." She told him.

"No, now." He said and grabbed her lower arm and pulled her into one of the outlying rooms.

He shut the door behind them. And then didn't say _anything_ and Ariadne thought she might pull her hair out.

"Okay. What is so important that you had to manhandle me?" She asked, irritation radiating from her small form.

Cobb seemed equally irritated as he raked a hand through his hair.

"You didn't say goodbye. You always wake me before you go." He finally said.

"We both needed the rest." She explained. It was true, dream sharing wasn't exactly restful. She had been tired when she left his bed. She didn't wake him because it always led to another round of lovemaking, and she really wouldn't have survived it.

Cobb frowned at her while he decided if he would accept her answer. He nodded and pulled her against him.

"Make sure you always say goodbye. Don't ever leave me without saying goodbye." He whispered hotly against her temple.

Ariadne just nodded because he was trailing heated kisses down her neck and she was already melting into him. She repeated her plea to him one more time.

"You have to let me go."

"No." He captured her mouth in a kiss made to turn her mind to mush. He didn't allow her to say anything further.

He took her feverishly against the wall and she orgasmed with a force that brought tears to her eyes.

"I love you." She whispered the three forbidden words.

He avoided her eyes. He gently helped her straighten her clothes and then he righted his own appearance.

"I'm sorry." He said and left the room.

"I know." She told the empty room.

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><p>Nobody seemed to notice that anything other than a discussion between employer and employee had taken place. Ariadne was relieved. They'd never been so careless before and she knew she would not be able to take Arthur's knowing looks or Eames smirks.<p>

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><p>Cobb new she would leave him. He would not be the one to let her go. He needed her way too much. She pulled him back after he had already fallen over the edge. Her gentle affection mended the pieces of his heart. When things turned intimate between them, she shook him to the core with the amount of passion she felt for him.<p>

She was acting weird. His favorite pastime was to watch her. He knew her nuances and quirks. She was different today. She seemed distracted and nervous. Ariadne didn't wake him up before she left his bed. He didn't like that, but he had no intension of bringing it up when he pulled her into that empty room. He had no intention of touching her either. He just couldn't help himself. And he hurt her again. She painfully pleaded with him to let her go. He said sorry once more. They were both fools.

Every time he apologizes to her, it is because he can't say three little words. Words she deserves to hear. He feels it, deeper than anything he has ever felt. He will not say the words, because she deserves better than Dominic Cobb. He knows this, it's the one and only thing he is sure of. He cannot let her go, but he hoped he would be strong enough to let her leave.

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><p>Ariadne was packing her suitcase later that night. She was not going back to California with Dom. After a year and a half she would not be returning home with Cobb after a job. She would not get to feel the warm embraces of Phillipa and James. She would miss this almost as much as anything else. She loved Cobb's children. It hurt that she would not be Aunt Ari anymore.<p>

The job was a success and as a result, Ariadne had plenty of money and could go wherever she wanted. What she wanted wasn't meant to be. So she was going to Italy. Cobb said every architect should see Rome.

She left her hotel room and walked the two doors down to Cobb's room. She knocked and when there was no answer she used the key he gave her to let herself in. She could hear the shower running. She unfolded the letter she had written to Cobb.

_Dear Dominic,_

_There are some things that are just not meant to be. I will never regret or forget our time together. I will always love you. You have taught me about life and love and passion. I am in love with who we are, not who we are supposed to be. There is no one else like you. _

_I am done pleading with you to let me go. I have to leave now or I won't be able to. I wish you only the best. Please always think of me with fondness and leave a small piece of your heart just for me. Give Phillipa and James my love, I will miss them dearly._

_Love Always,_

_Ariadne_

She set the letter on the nightstand. Her hand was on the doorknob when she heard him come into the room.

"Ariadne." He said.

She began to tremble. _Please let me go_. She begged silently.

Cobb spotted the letter immediately and he walked over to the nightstand to pick it up. Towel slung loosely around his hips. He looked up briefly to see that Ariadne's hand was still on the door knob. He read her letter twice. _I am in love with who we are, not who we are supposed to be._ And he began to wonder why he ever cared what people thought or said. He was in love with Ariadne.

"You're really leaving?" he asked her.

She nodded and swallowed painfully, still facing the door. "I have to Dom. This hurts too much."

"Ariadne, please turn around and look at me." He demanded. He walked over to where she stood at the door.

Ariadne could feel the heat emanating from his body and she knew if she turned around she would not leave this room. Cobb knew it too, and she hated him for knowing her so well. She shook her head, refusing to do as he commanded.

"Please. I am not strong enough to let you leave me" He whispered against her ear. His hand covered hers on the doorknob and he slowly pulled it away. "Look at me."

She wanted to tell him to let her go so she could run and never stop. Instead she dropped her bag and turned to face him, she let herself fall into the blue-grey of his eyes. A pained sob left her lips as she realized she would never be able to leave this man. A man who would never let her leave, but would never be as utterly consumed by her as Ariadne was by him. This time she did not stop the tears.

"Love, please don't cry." He murmured against her trembling lips, pulling her tightly against his hard body. "I love you so much, don't leave me."

Ariadne held him tight and cried even harder. _He loved her? He loves me? _

"Cobb, you are not just saying that to get me to stay are you?" Ariadne asked in a tear clogged voice, her lips moving softly against his bare chest.

"No, Ari. I've been an ass. I've loved you from our very first kiss. I was just being stubborn." He admitted.

"I think I have loved you from the moment I saw you. I would have waited forever for you." She confided.

"This won't be easy, you know."

"When has anything ever been easy for us?" Ariadne finally gave Dom the smile he had been waiting for.

"Game on." He said. "We're telling everyone tonight." He told her as he began undoing her buttons. Ready to show her exactly how much he loved her

"Why so quickly?" She asked, barely noticing that he had begun to remove her clothing.

"Both Eames and Arthur are mooning over you. They need to know you are mine, before one of them does something stupid and I have to kill one or the other or both." He informed her distractedly as he shoved down her pants.

"You're crazy. Arthur and Eames think of me as a sister." She laughed as she stepped out of her jeans, leaving her clad in nothing but small lacy underwear.

Cobb let his towel drop and pulled her against him, all kidding aside as he stared into her velvety brown eyes.

"I am sorry I ever hurt you." He said seriously, his eyes flashing painfully as he thought of the hell he had put them through emotionally.

"I am sorry too. I won't ever hold it against you. It must have been scary to let yourself love someone again." She grabbed his hand and led him to the bed.

"I'm glad you waited for me." He lay down and pulled her on top of him.

"I'm glad you never let me go."

"I never will."

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><p>None of the team where surprised when Cobb and Ariadne walked out of the hotel hand and hand the next morning. To Ariadne's surprise she discovered that Cobb was right about Arthur and Eames harboring feelings for her. She wasn't sure exactly what she represented to the forger and the point man, but she knew they would find what they were really looking for one day.<p>

Phillipa and James were ecstatic to find out that Aunt Ari would be a permanent resident in their home.

They worked and argued and loved together and Cobb never let her go. Not that he had to worry. Ariadne never tried to leave again.

The End.

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><p>Reviews = love<p> 


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